Following a first cataract surgery with another scheduled in mid-March, I’m literally bumping my way through a 3-D kaleidoscopic life over the next month and a half. Once healed, my eyes will see the world in HD panorama. High density plastic lenses? Recycled and swapped for standard reading glasses. Yes, cool science has come through for this blue-eyed blonde who grew up in Nevada’s great outdoors—sans sunglasses. Ain’t life grand?

Future serial killer

However, story will out. Within this very household, an exposed serial killer reveals himself via strewn limbs and mangled Awful Mad Kitty and Big Mean Kitty torsos. Reading further is not—repeat NOT—advised for the squeamish among you.

Dismembered

Nine months ago, we welcomed into our home a murderer, whose demeanor showed nothing of the impending catastrophe. Even as we allowed his tender looks and seemingly joyful attitude to lull us, his darker side took root. The rest of this story unfolds in pictorial devastation. WARNING: Graphic content of chilling mutilation follows.

Awful Mad Kitty

I leave you with the knowledge that I am held hostage in this house by the perpetrator, even as a pile of ‘dead’ stuffed animals accumulates on my sewing box. Among the mortally wounded: Dirty Rotten Kitty, Real Mad Cow, Cold Hearted Snake, and Rocky Raccoon. Only when I can see well enough to mend the broken, the torn, the disemboweled, will this house be populated once more by squeaking plushies—lopsided though they may be.

With my edible annuals uncurling their cotyledons toward the sun, it’s time to inhale deeply and appreciate our other garden rooms. As a huge fan of perennials in this high desert environ, I cherish wandering through a decade of xeriscape plantings. Along the way, survivors offer a high-five while I note the vacant places. Perennial doesn’t mean forever, after all.

Before

Then I let my gaze go fuzzy. That’s when textures and colors melt into paintscapes reminiscent of Monet as I plan what edits to make this year. After scribbling a few notes, it’s lovely to settle on one of numerous perches—mostly granite—and absorb both view and birdsong while breathing lush air transformed by plant life.

For your pleasure and because gardeners love to share, I offer a download of my treasured perennial list. Having cultivated an excess of three hundred and fifty plant seeds here—all chosen for zones 1-3, deer- and drought-resistance along with their bountiful exuberance—these mighty ones form the structural backbone. Most of them nourish wildlife ranging from Monarch butterfly to mule deer.

Now relax and enjoy this walk in my gardens with me.

Lamb’s ears

What’s your approach to gardening? Are you primarily a fan of annuals or perennials?